Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel was arraigned yesterday as an adult for the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley – when the two were only 15 years old – while his lawyer insisted he would not take a plea-bargain.

“I understand them [my rights and the charges] fully,” the 40-year-old Skakel told a judge in Stamford, Conn.

Skakel – who did not enter a plea – nervously shuffled his feet when Judge John Kavanewsky Jr., read the murder charge against him, and said that a conviction could mean life in prison.

Sherman also shot down speculation that Skakel might plead guilty to a lesser charge to end the case.

“Not a shot in hell!” Sherman told reporters.

The murder of the Greenwich teen rocked the wealthy community of Belle Haven. Moxley, a Skakel neighbor, was found beaten to death with a golf club that was traced back to the Skakel mansion.

The Moxley family did not attend yesterday’s five-minute arraignment. Reached after the proceedings, John Moxley, Martha’s brother, told The Associated Press, “I think it’s a major milestone for us.

“The only thing we ever wanted was answers to the questions the investigation has brought up and a fair trial.”

A host of former chums from the Elan School – a drug- and alcohol-rehab facility – testified in an earlier hearing that Skakel confessed to the murder during a group session, and even said he got away with it because he is a Kennedy.

The same witnesses are expected to take the stand again starting April 18 in another hearing.

Before then, a court has to decide where the trial will be held. Defense lawyers want the trial in Stamford, the county seat for Greenwich. But prosecutor Jonathan Benedict wants the case moved to Bridgeport, where all major crime cases were handled at the time of Moxley’s murder.

Skakel, whose father is the brother of Ethel Kennedy – Robert F. Kennedy’s widow – is being divorced by his wife, Margot.